The reason why Josh Norman was benched vs Saints

Washington cornerback Josh Norman was benched for the start of the second half of Monday night’s loss to the Saints, for reasons that weren’t publicly explained. Now an explanation has emerged: Norman put on headphones at halftime, and didn’t take them off when coach Jay Gruden addressed the team.

“The reason Josh Norman was benched for the start of the second half against the Saints had very little to do with him getting lost in coverage,” Sheehan said, via Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post. “At halftime, according to my source, he put his headphones on while the coaches were addressing the team. Jay Gruden told him to take them off. He either didn’t hear Jay or he ignored him, but with that, I was told, the headphones were removed. By whom? My source says that he believes it was Gruden who removed the headphones from Norman’s head. But regardless, Gruden benched him to start the third quarter, and that was the reason why. My source also tells me that there is not a lot of good vibes when it comes to Norman among several of the coaches right now. Not much they can do about it.”

That the coaches can’t do much about it is a result of Norman’s contract: He’s in the third year of a five-year, $75 million contract, and if they were to cut him this season his dead cap would be $22.3 million.
Link - ( New Window )